Observations:
Today at Broad Rock Middle School the students did a lab where they dissected a flower. Students worked in groups of 2 to find all of the parts of a flower. This was a good opportunity to circulate amongst the class and answer questions. The students were not shy in asking me which part was which, both on their plant diagrams and on the flowers themselves. I noticed that my CT had paired more advanced learners with struggling students. At one point a student came up to me and said, “look what I just learned from John,” his lab partner. He simply pointed out to me which part of the flower was the stamen on a diagram, but he seamed proud of what he had learned. I responded by asking him to show me where the stamen was on the actual flower. After a few seconds of comparing the flower to the diagram he found it. During this time my CT was circulating along with me helping students in a similar way. When the lab was completed the students began working on the conclusion questions. This is when MY attention was in high demand. Students would blatantly ask me the answer to the question, but I was sure to give them just enough scaffolding for them to get to the answer on their own. For example, when asked, “why would it be beneficial for a plant to have a long pistil,” I responded by asking them what the function of the pistil was. When they started thing about how the pistil needs to catch pollen, they realized that if it was longer, it would have a better opportunity to catch pollen. By the end of the period I had a question to respond to any question they asked me about the lab to nudge them towards the answer..
Reflection:
Today’s lab was a great example of my CT’s facilitator style. I have not been to one of her classes where the students did not do some kind of activity, and a full period lab is a great example of how she lets them explore a science topic first hand. As far as her relationship with students, they have a good report but she maintains a distinct role as an authority figure. Because they started looping this year, she had had this group of 8th grade students as 7th graders. She has told me that this has its pros and cons, but given the chance to vote again she would prefer not to loop. She finds that the students are a little too comfortable with her. This has lead to a lot of talking out and behavior problems. The only benefit is that she knows exactly what the students learned last year. For this reason the students sometimes view her as a friend and her ability to exercise authority is sometimes threatened. However in the end she gets the respect she demands and the students fall in line. This is consistent through all of her classes, though sometimes it takes a little more effort to get students where they need to be. For example in one period a student made a defiant remark, which I could tell was meant playfully, but she was able to quickly squelch his poor attitude, and it was apparent she was in charge. However in another class a similar situation escalated to back talk and disrespect. She put the student in his place with a threat of writing them up. This was a good lesson for me to always keep myself established as a figure of authority before anything else. I hope to some day enact a demonstrator teaching style. This style lends itself well to maintaining a position of power as I am the one who will be the focus of attention. While I would like to have a good report with the students I will be sure to be seen as the teacher and not a friend.
Today at Broad Rock Middle School the students did a lab where they dissected a flower. Students worked in groups of 2 to find all of the parts of a flower. This was a good opportunity to circulate amongst the class and answer questions. The students were not shy in asking me which part was which, both on their plant diagrams and on the flowers themselves. I noticed that my CT had paired more advanced learners with struggling students. At one point a student came up to me and said, “look what I just learned from John,” his lab partner. He simply pointed out to me which part of the flower was the stamen on a diagram, but he seamed proud of what he had learned. I responded by asking him to show me where the stamen was on the actual flower. After a few seconds of comparing the flower to the diagram he found it. During this time my CT was circulating along with me helping students in a similar way. When the lab was completed the students began working on the conclusion questions. This is when MY attention was in high demand. Students would blatantly ask me the answer to the question, but I was sure to give them just enough scaffolding for them to get to the answer on their own. For example, when asked, “why would it be beneficial for a plant to have a long pistil,” I responded by asking them what the function of the pistil was. When they started thing about how the pistil needs to catch pollen, they realized that if it was longer, it would have a better opportunity to catch pollen. By the end of the period I had a question to respond to any question they asked me about the lab to nudge them towards the answer..
Reflection:
Today’s lab was a great example of my CT’s facilitator style. I have not been to one of her classes where the students did not do some kind of activity, and a full period lab is a great example of how she lets them explore a science topic first hand. As far as her relationship with students, they have a good report but she maintains a distinct role as an authority figure. Because they started looping this year, she had had this group of 8th grade students as 7th graders. She has told me that this has its pros and cons, but given the chance to vote again she would prefer not to loop. She finds that the students are a little too comfortable with her. This has lead to a lot of talking out and behavior problems. The only benefit is that she knows exactly what the students learned last year. For this reason the students sometimes view her as a friend and her ability to exercise authority is sometimes threatened. However in the end she gets the respect she demands and the students fall in line. This is consistent through all of her classes, though sometimes it takes a little more effort to get students where they need to be. For example in one period a student made a defiant remark, which I could tell was meant playfully, but she was able to quickly squelch his poor attitude, and it was apparent she was in charge. However in another class a similar situation escalated to back talk and disrespect. She put the student in his place with a threat of writing them up. This was a good lesson for me to always keep myself established as a figure of authority before anything else. I hope to some day enact a demonstrator teaching style. This style lends itself well to maintaining a position of power as I am the one who will be the focus of attention. While I would like to have a good report with the students I will be sure to be seen as the teacher and not a friend.